5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. 3 5:18 I 4 tell you the truth, 5 until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter 6 will pass from the law until everything takes place. 5:19 So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others 7 to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
1 tc The majority of later witnesses (C2 D L Z 33 Ï) have “behind me” (ὀπίσω μου; opisw mou) after “Go away.” But since this is the wording in Matt 16:23, where the text is certain, scribes most likely added the words here to conform to the later passage. Further, the shorter reading has superior support (א B C*vid K P W Δ 0233 Ë1,13 565 579* 700 al). Thus, both externally and internally, the shorter reading is strongly preferred.
2 sn A quotation from Deut 6:13. The word “only” is an interpretive expansion not found in either the Hebrew or Greek (LXX) text of the OT.
3 tn Grk “not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Direct objects (“these things,” “them”) were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but have been supplied here to conform to contemporary English style.
4 tn Grk “For I tell.” Here an explanatory γάρ (gar) has not been translated.
5 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
6 tn Grk “Not one iota or one serif.”
7 tn Grk “teaches men” ( in a generic sense, people).
8 tn Heb “to [the] instruction and to [the] testimony.” The words “then you must recall” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 19-20a are one long sentence, reading literally, “When they say to you…, to the instruction and to the testimony.” On the identity of the “instruction” and “testimony” see the notes at v. 16.
9 tn Heb “If they do not speak according to this word, [it is] because it has no light of dawn.” The literal translation suggests that “this word” refers to the instruction/testimony. However, it is likely that אִם־לֹא (’im-lo’) is asseverative here, as in 5:9. In this case “this word” refers to the quotation recorded in v. 19. For a discussion of the problem see J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah (NICOT), 230, n. 9. The singular pronoun in the second half of the verse is collective, referring back to the nation (see v. 19b).
10 tn Grk “render inoperative.”
11 tn Grk “but” (Greek ἀλλά, alla).